Election 2024: Meet Saline Board of Education Candidate Jason Tizedes

Voters in the Saline Area Schools district will elect four members to the Board of Education in the upcoming general election. The candidates are incumbents Jennifer Steben, Susan Estep and Brad Gerbe, and Darcy Berwick, Kelly Van Singel, Shari Barnett and Jason Tizedes.

We asked questions of all the candidates. Here are Jason Tizedes's answers.

Bio:
I grew up in the downriver, Michigan area in Allen Park. My mom was a stay-at-home mom that worked seasonally as a tax preparer and my dad worked for the big three and was a union member. I attended both public and parochial schools and graduated from Cabrini High School. I went on to college at Eastern Michigan University where I studied to be a teacher until I decided to move onto business.

I have worked in the private criminal justice sector for nearly 20 years. For the last eight years I have served as the vice president of one of the country’s largest private criminal justice, community supervision, and offender monitoring companies where I head up the sales and marketing divisions. I also have played a key role in the development and continued oversight of the company’s software division that serves as a conduit for criminal justice involved individuals to more effectively manage their requirements and communication with their supervision authority.

Concurrent to that work, I serve on the board of directors and chief executive officer for a govtech/biotech startup spun out of the University of Michigan. This company focuses on technological strategies to improve rehabilitation and treatment outcomes for individuals that struggle with Substance Use Disorders (SUD) by increasing accountability and intelligence around their substance misuse.

Today I live in the Saline School District in York Township with my wife of 14 years Kate, our two daughters (3rd and 6th grades), son (senior in New Boston Schools) and our two dogs Murphy (almost 10) and Griffin (not yet 1).

I try to stay active by playing soccer and representing Saline with other parents on our “Saline FC Parents” indoor team. I also enjoy playing golf, shooting sports for which I am a Certified Safety Officer, and photography to round out my hobbies. Each of my kids likes a different one of my hobbies so having the opportunity to spend time one-on-one with each of them and teach them about something I love to do is one of the most fulfilling things I get to do in my life.

Why are you running for the Board of Education?
Like many voters, I am a parent and have kids that go to Saline Area Schools. And like many families, we settled in this area primarily for the schools and the opportunities available to our kids. I have witnessed a shift in the district since our move to Saline and have seen our district’s ranking steadily fall in the state.

I want my kids—as well as all other kids in the district—to have the opportunities for which Saline schools have been known. We need our kids to feel safe and they need to know that they are being heard when they have concerns. Their educational environment should be just that—educational.

Our teachers and staff need those same assurances. I believe that our staff is one of our most important assets and we need to attract and retain the best staff. I believe that is why the Saline Education Association along with the support staff have recommended me for the board.

Why should voters choose you?
There are three key areas that are important to all voters and district families on which I am absolutely the best candidate.

First, School Safety. With nearly 20 years’ experience in community safety, community supervision, and criminal justice, I know what it takes to keep our buildings, staff, and students safe. My expertise in community partnerships as it relates to safety and security can help make Saline Area Schools inviting and secure.

Second, Smart Spending. I have negotiated millions of dollars in government contracts in my career and have always done so from the private side of the table. Budgets can be complex, but I know how taxpayer dollars can be spent efficiently while holding vendors and contractors accountable. I have more purchasing and procurement experience than anyone on the board or that seeking a seat in this election.

Finally, Supporting Staff. Our teachers and support staff carry a heavy burden—educating our kids in an ever-polarized society. We need to focus on what makes Saline teachers great and use those characteristics to attract and retain the best staff available. Our staff need to be inspiring to our kids and sometimes fill roles that are absent. They need our support and our community to want them to feel safe while they do their jobs.

If elected, what are your top priorities?
Safety, safety, safety. Education, no matter what, will always be the district’s top priority. Saying anything but that would be a disservice to our educational professionals. However, it is our duty as community members to ensure that our staff and teachers can be free to instruct, teach, and inspire the next generation of leaders. That is why it is incumbent upon us to provide a safe and secure environment for them to execute those goals and for our students to never have to worry about their safety and security.

The board’s transgender policy states that school staff shall not reveal a student’s transgender status to the student’s parents. Do you agree with this policy? Why or why not?
I absolutely, unequivocally do not. And frankly, anyone that does agree with that policy is either not a parent themselves or finds pleasure in the judgment of other parents with whom they disagree.

No matter one’s position on gender fluidity, the fact is that parents are raising their children. And whether you agree or disagree with a parent’s values, morals, or ethics, parents will raise their children in a way that they see to be the best for their family. The best part of being a parent is that despite the struggles, the obstacles, and missteps, the way you parent will still be the best for your child. Far be it from me or anyone else to judge the performance of a parent based on what I think other parents should do.

If school staff truly feel that a student is in danger for any reason, there are avenues that are not only available, but are required of school staff to pursue. If that threat is not present, the school policy of withholding information that is critical to the upbringing of a child is a gross dereliction of the district’s responsibility to have informed and involved parents.

The board used to have a 10 percent cap on schools of choice students. What do you think of schools of choice and how should the district use it?
When my wife and I were expecting our oldest daughter (6th grade) we started planning for a move to Saline. We sacrificed, we saved, we did everything we could to ensure our daughter would attend Saline Area Schools. Back then, getting in via school of choice was not a given, so we sold our house, borrowed some money for a down payment, and became members of the Saline community.

I also believe that kids, no matter their socioeconomic status, should have the benefit of attending a district that can meet their educational needs. If anyone wants to purposefully restrict that ability, then they truly do not have the best interests of all kids at heart.

The overall problem with increasing school choice acceptance is that the families of those students are less likely to move to Saline, so we lose the local tax base of those families. Additionally, without a methodology to effectively screen the acceptance of students, more out of district families could seek out Saline Area Schools based solely on our exceptional special education programming. That in turn may negatively impact any potential financial gain from added federal and state dollars simply by accepting more students.

My heart tells me one thing, but my head tells me something different. By being elected to the Board of Education for Saline Area Schools, by its very nature means I must do what is right for Saline families and students first. Any available resources following those decisions means we can then gauge the amount school of choice acceptance that the district can reasonably be expected to serve.

What’s a strength of the district? Do you think there may be ways to leverage that strength to improve education in the schools?
Quite simply, Saline Area Schools has some of the best facilities for educational instruction, elite athletics, and artistic expression. Saline should be the benchmark for all surrounding districts based on our availability of this infrastructure. Our teachers and staff cannot be left out of that conversation. We have the best facilities because our teachers and staff know how to use those resources effectively to inspire, coach, and lead our students.

We should be looking at ways to leverage our resources to gain an advantage when attracting teachers and staff. Saline Area Schools’ jobs should have fierce competition. We should have stacks of resumes for everything from custodial workers and bus drivers to teachers, principals, and administrators. By making Saline “The District to Be Inspiring” we can find the right people, to be in the right positions, to point the district in the right direction.

What’s a weakness of the district and how should it be improved?
Throughout my career I have had to perform countless SWOT analyses. Identifying Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats is a fundamental exercise for businesses and their leaders. Though some may say a SWOT analysis is antiquated, there is no better self-assessment tool an organization can employ.

A weakness of our district that is shared by many other districts, Fortune 500 companies, and other entities is overvaluing an individual’s identity comparatively to that person’s character, accomplishments, ability, and potential. Making a judgment or decision on anything other than objective, measurable metrics does an incredible disservice to our district and to the individual. Dynamically deciding into what groups or categories we place individuals based on any other factors than that of the individual is a direct sign of pandering and weakness. We should want the best and expect the best in our staff and students no matter what cloth from which they are cut. We should hire, celebrate, recognize, and cherish each person’s uniqueness rather than force a false narrative of inclusiveness.

Should the board be more careful about adopting policies that are cited as reasons to leave the district for private schools? Why or why not?
An interesting metric I like to analyze, and that which the district does not necessarily make terribly transparent, is that student population fall off is skewed. We’ve lost students over the last ten years, and those losses of Saline area families are even offset by an increase in school of choice acceptance. That means that we have lost far more Saline families and students than the student population decline shows in a simple statistical report. And no, it is not due to a birth rate decline.

Like it or not, decisions made by the district were the most profound driver of the student exodus. I once heard a board member hollowly ask why families are leaving, but ironically the answers were snubbed. Professional leaders, like myself, want to know the real answers. And when those answers are not something we like or want to hear, it is still incumbent upon us to reflect on our own priorities and decisions.

It is the board’s responsibility as the governing body of the district to perform in a manner that protects the district’s interest. Much like executives and the boards of directors of companies answer to shareholders for poor policy and decision-making, the board of education should have to answer as to why families leave the district. Why do those families pay taxes to be in Saline Area Schools, but then pay tuition so that their children can attend a private or parochial school? Driving away families that are generous staples of our community because they have a different set of values than the board wants them to have, is a negligent act of self-importance and does not have the greater good of the district at heart.

As a board member, what obligation do you have to the people with whom you disagree?
I will give a simple answer to this one, and being a member of the board does not make it the only compelling reason to be this way. Every person, regardless of stature, status, value system, or any other characteristic one could think of should have the obligation to treat those that disagree with them with RESPECT.

We have lost that commitment to each other in our society over the last 20 years. The expansion of social media, the devaluation of factual-based arguments, and the ubiquity of handheld technology has elevated the masses to a self-enfranchised belief of superiority. I would argue that we are more obliged to respect those with whom we disagree because only when we understand others’ positions can we truly be secure in our own beliefs.

I’ve spoken to groups that both support me and do not support me. But in all those instances I explain my philosophy as simply as I can: Only when I can fully understand an opposing viewpoint, formulate the most important aspects of that position, and articulate an argument in favor of that position better than the view holder themselves, can I then be satisfied that my position is the correct one. There is only one hill I am willing to die on and that is for my family. All other matters are worthy of spirited discussion, disagreement, and consensus

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